More than 350 buyers and partners converged on 7 March within the Pavillon Cambon, à Parisat the invitation ofAmerican Express Global Business Travel (GBT) for this EVP 2018. In 27 editions, the format, date and venue have logically changed. But the objective remains unchanged: to identify the major trends in business travel, understand the needs of companies and their travellers, and quantify as far as possible any significant changes in the market. This is why the EVP barometer is expected every year to take the temperature of business travel, not only in France but also in the ten other European countries currently surveyed.
Through a sample ofa thousand companiesAmerican Express GBT has therefore carried out what is now a customary exercise, identifying the major business travel trends of the year. These trends are much the same as those highlighted in the previous edition, which placed business travel at the top of the list. security top priority for European companies. In 2018, and for the third year running, the safety of travellers is the number one criterion for defining a travel policy according to the TMC. A comfortable majority of the companies surveyed (65%) have implemented a policy of duty of carecompared with 64% the previous year. However, not all travellers are on the same footing, as the disparity between large accounts and small businesses shows. While 84% of large organisations have already adopted linked solutions to ensure their duty of protection, the figure falls to 52% among small businesses.
Another confirmation compared to the previous barometer: thetravel experience is not - or is no longer - sacrificed on the altar of cost reduction. 57% of professionals believe that their testimonies will have an impact on travel policy (+11 points), in particular on the choice of new booking tools on tablets or mobiles (72%), on the preferred booking options - direct or via a travel agency, in particular (67%), or even on the choice of travel management solutions. duty of care to adopt (62%). However, not all the figures attest to this affirmation of the traveller as co-constructor of the travel policy: 56% of companies would measure the satisfaction of their mobile professionals, and a small third of them (32%) are adapting their policy accordingly, a figure down slightly (-1 point)...
And what about TMC? After all, this is the issue on which American Express is working assiduously, in a relatively turbulent context. Citing a "TMC's legitimacy increasingly challenged"However, the authors of the barometer note that 79% of companies work with at least one agency. It remains to be seen what TMC's profile will be in the medium term, given that a quarter of those surveyed (25%) are currently pushing the agency to review your business model.
So far, the signs are green for American Express GBT. The business travel agency recorded a clear increase in the number of transactions on the French market in 2018 (+12%), well above the national average (+1.5%), thanks in particular to the signing of new major accounts. This upward trend is set to continue this year, with the barometer forecasting similar growth in France (+1.5%). Forecasts are particularly optimistic in the UK and Spain, where travel buyers are anticipating strong growth in spending (+7%). At European level, companies are forecasting a further increase in business travel expenditure (+3.4%), slightly higher than the figures recorded last year (+3.15%).
